The league's 20 clubs agreed unanimously Thursday to examine
proposals to expand the regular season and play 10 games overseas
starting in 2010-11.

The matches would be played at five venues around the world in aa single weekend in January 2011. Each city would host one game on
Saturday and one on Sunday.

The international round would be in addition to the traditional
38 home and away matches each of the clubs currently play.

"We can't escape the fact that globalization of sport is with
us," Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said. "This
is a response to that globalization. ... By design we have become a
global phenomenon. We cannot go on manifesting that phenomenon as a
broadcast proposition only."

No potential host cities or countries have been discussed,
Scudamore said. However, he said the league would avoid venues with
potential bad weather conditions. That would appear to rule out the
U.S. East Coast and Midwest.

Despite protests from coaches that their players already have
too many matches, the switch to a 39-game season would start in
2010-11, when a new television broadcast agreement is scheduled to
take effect.

The Premier League initiative follows the success of American
leagues in staging football, basketball, hockey and baseball games
outside of the United States.

Major League
Baseball is opening its season in Tokyo for the third time. The NHL opened in London in September 2007, when the defending Stanley Cup
champion Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings contested the
first regular-season games to be played in Europe, and is set to
open next season with four games in Stockholm and Prague.

"We have been wrestling with how we might do something
internationally for quite some time," Scudamore said. "We've been
inundated over the last five years with a whole host of proposals.
It reached a crescendo when the NFL came to Wembley."

Still to be worked out would be how the team matchups would be
decided.

"All clubs have an equal chance of being treated unfairly,"
Scudamore said. "It's better than taking somebody's home game."

No league games would be played in the week before or after the
round of overseas matches.

All 10 games would be broadcast live in Britain. They would be
sold as a separate package under European Union law and would be
put for bids.

Scudamore said club chairman would hold a two-day meeting in
June to further discuss the proposals. A final decision is expected
next January.

"We have not voted today to do it," Scudamore said. "We have
not voted today to say, 'This is how it will be done.' We have
voted to further examine a proposal."

Most Premier League clubs already embark on annual preseason
overseas tours to Asia and the United States. Italy has played its
preseason SuperCup at Washington and East Rutherford, N.J.

Four English Premier League clubs are controlled by U.S. owners: Manchester United
(Malcolm Glazer); Liverpool (Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.);
Aston Villa (Randy Lerner); and Derby (Andy Appleby).

Five others are controlled by foreigners: Chelsea (Russia); Portsmouth
(Russia); Manchester City (Thailand); Fulham (Egypt); and West Ham
(Iceland).